In compliance with Baptist usage, a council of
churches was called for Nov. 21, 1849, for the purpose
of recognizing the new church. Delegates were pres-
ent from the Baptist Churches of Flemington, Lam-
bert ville, and Kingwood. Rev. Joseph Wright, of
Lambertville, was made moderator, and Rev. Levi G.
Beck, of Flemington, clerk. After due deliberation,
the church was recognized. The recognition services
were : Sermon by Rev. John Davis, of Lambertville :
text, Matt. xvi. 18; prayer by Rev. William Shropc,
of Flemington ; hand of fellowship, Rev. L. G. Beck;
charge to the church, Rev. Joseph Wright. The new
church consisted of 49 members, — 89 from Fleming-
ton, 9 from Kingwood, and 1 from Bethlehem. The
house was built in 1X50.
The first pastor was Rev. Edwin R. Hera, April 1,
* Data kindly furnished by the pastor, Eev, M. 11. Laning,
1850, to July 1, 1853. His ministry seems to have
been successful, as the church numbered 95 when he
resigned. For one year the church was supplied with
preaching by different ministers, among whom for six
months was Rev. William Shrope. A unanimous call
having been extended to Rev. R. B. Stelle, he entered
upon his work July 1, 1854. His was the longest
pastorate since the organization of the church. It
continued for more than ten years, or until Aug. 9,
1864, when death dissolved the connection. During
his ministry 84 were added to the church.
The next pastor was Rev. William D. Hires, Nov.
6, 1864, to April 1, 1867. During this time 29 joined.
Rev. William Humpstone took charge June 1, 1867,
and remained until April 1, 1868 ; 20 were added,
mostly by baptism.
For more than a year no mention is made of any
pastor. From May, 1869, to March, 1871, Rev. E. S.
Lear was in charge. March 4, 1871, Rev. Charles E.
Young became pastor, and remained until his death,
Aug. 24, 1876. During his pastorate 45 were added.
From October, 1876, to May, 1877, Rev. M. B.
Laning preached as a supply, when, receiving a call,
he became pastor, in which capacity he remains to the
present time. During his ministry 21 have been
added.
The total membership of the church during the
thirty-one years of its existence has been 305. Many
of these have moved away, some have died, and about
160 are now enrolled. The parsonage was bought in
1869. The church is almost free from debt.
BURIAL-PLACES.
The oldest place of public burial in the township
is the Friends' burying-ground at Quakertown. Here
repose the ashes of many of the earliest settlers. Un-
fortunately, there was among Friends an early aver-
sion to the erection of tombstones with commemora-
tive inscriptions. The records of burials do not date
back of 1761, hence it is impossible to give any ac-
count of the earliest interments. The first burials re-
corded are :
" A Memorial of the time of Death and Burial of Joseph King Senior,
departed this Life the 10th Day ot the 12th Mouth, 1701, in the Seventy-
eighth year of his age."
" Our antient Friend Samuel Willson Died the Nineteenth Day of the
Twelfth Month, 1701, and was Inter'd in Friends Burying-Ground at
Kingwood the Twenty-Second Day ot tho Same Month, about tho Eigh-
tieth year of his age."
"This our antient Friend Samuel Largo Departed this Life at his
House in Kingwood, the 9th Day of the 0th Month, 1765, and was de-
cently Intored in Friends ISurying-pluco there."
The oldest stone marked and dated bears this in-
scription :
"W. E. Ag 31 yrs 1752."
Among other old inscriptions arc the following :
"P. G. Died Feb. 13th, 1791."
"Susanna Atkinson, died Oct. 24th, 1702, aged 35 yoars."
" Aaron Foiiuau, M.D., died Jan. 11th, 1805, aged 60 years."
"In Memory of Ann, wife of Dr. Aaron Forman, who departed thia life
Dccombor 13th, 17114."
"Jeremiah King, died July 2, 1820, in tho 03d year of his ago."
27 -Uka^^y- UJLCU
FRANKLIN.
441
" In memory of George Scott, who died April 12th,1821, aged 78 years."
" Bforrifl Boneson."
" Elizabeth Bobeson."
The next oldest burying-ground is the one opposite
J. L. Nixon's, formerly known as Craven's. It WES
deeded to llir Society of Friends I »y 1 >:m it-1 1 )i iiijrlity,
sun of Jacob Doughty, by conveyance bearing date
Sept. 20, 1764, It is therein described as "the lot
known as t he grave yard," shoving that it had pre-
viously heen used as a place of burial. Jt was then
hounded north, south, and west by lauds of Samuel
McFerson. The eastern boundary was a line running
in the middle of the Trenton mad. The Friends, who
still hold the deed for it, opened it to the public,
making it, of c -e, free to all. Their object, it is
said, was in prevent their own graveyard at Quaker-
town from being crowded with the remains of those
nol in sympathy with their society. The oldest in-
scription, rudely chiseled on a rough stone, reads thus:
" Samuel McForsun Sonor was bora April the 4 1709 aud departed tbi
life September the 2d 1772. Aged 03."
( Xher inscripl i-.ii- :
"Teniporanco Satl leparted this life Aprfl the 16 Day in tbo year of
..in l il 177-1."
"In moryof Mary Drake, daughter of Onla & Temperance Drake,
who departed thU life September 21st, 1704, aged 7 yi m ind
"In mi. i â– > i if S;u ah Lair, wife of Wm, Lair, who ilojuutocl thu lit"**
January 16th, 1708, in the 12d year of borage."
"In memory of Elizaboth M.F.i son, Consort of David tfcFi
Uocouibor 1th, 1801, in the 68th year of borage."
"In momory of Joseph Stocktou who diod Dec. 27th, 1800, aged 08
years, months, and 2 da)
â– â– In memory of Poter Teeplo who departed thifl llfo November 20th,
A.D. 1831, a i
"In momory of Sarah, wife of Peter leeple, who Hod April 14 th, 1862,
in the B8th year of her ago."
There was once a colored people's ground in what
is now J. L. Nixon's field, about 100 yards northwest
of his house. It is said to have heen the place of
burial for the early slaves of this vicinity. People
now living remember when two negroes belonging
to Eugb Kunvon, who lived at â– 'Allen's Corner,"
were buried there. The stones arc now torn out and
the graves plowed over, having no trace of their la-t
place.
The ground at Cherryville was set apart for burial
purposes in L850. The first three interments were
those of John K. Everitt, died March 5, I850j Ann
Maria McPherSOn, died -March 16, I860; Hannah
Mario Johnson, died April 6, 1850.
"The Locust Grove Cemetery" was incorporated
in 1867. The original members were Henry 8. Trim-
mer, Sedgwick Little, Benjamin Egbert, Wm. M.
Btryker, Elijah Hartpence, John B, Tomer, Wm.
Large, John W. Welch, Joseph Everitt, and Ahram
Bennett, The first interment was that of William
J 1 iv .is child ; the second, that of Christiana, wife of
Benjamin Botman.
In the edge of a wood in the BOUthWQSt corner of
David Kurd's farm is a lone grave marked by a rough
stone hearing this inscription :
"Sarah raid, Died anrlal Uttb, 17 10, â– I I- years."
29
All memory of her seems to have been completely
lost. The writer has tried iii vain to find out who
she was and the circumstances of her burial.
INDUSTRIAL PURSUITS.
The cultivation of the soil has always heen the
Leading industry I lr;nlhn Her SOl] made fertile
ehieilv through the agency of lime, produces fine
Crops of all the grains and fruits common to this lati-
tude. The peach-crop is rapidly growing in import-
ance. In |s-pi the lir-t peach-orchard was planted
by Joseph K. Potts, on the farm now owned by
and Jacob Mace. The other pioneers of this
industry were Thomas S. Potts and John Scott. The
fruit was then carted to Easton. The business has
increased so rapidly during the last decade that it is
now a leading industry.
Milling has been carried on from a very early day.
The abundant water-power famished by theCapoolon,
the Cackatohg, and the South Branch was not long
suffered to run to waste. It is -aid that the first
grist-mill Was what was known in later years as the
old fulling-mill al Pittstown. It was built by Ed-
ward Kockhill before 1748. This was used as a grist-
mill until after the Revolution. It is said to have
heen for a long lime the only one withih a wide ex-
tent of Country. A new mill — that now owned by
( 'harh-s Mann — was built by Moore I'tmuan during
the Revolution lor "army purposes." Subsequently
the old mill was used for fulling. Thomas Twining
carried on the business at onetime, and Samuel Grant
in 1813.
Another grist-mill was built at a very early day by
Joseph King, Sr., where Young's Mills now arc.
The new mill at that place was l.uilt in ls.'iii by Peter
K. Young and Nathan ShurK The factory-building
was erected in 1M"> or 1X10 by Peter 11. Young, and
the business of wool-carding and weaving was begun
by Sheppard & Brother. It was rinsed in 1S7S.
Thomas Twining bought, at a sale of James I I
worth's property, in 1785, the mill-site now known a-
King's. About two years later he built the old full-
ing-mill, now used as a dwelling. The grist-mill was
erected in L799 bj the same man. In 1811, Joseph
King bought the property of Twining, who removed
to the Stan ol 'New York. William I.., son of Joseph
King, built the old oil-mill during the same year, and
in 1812 commenced to manufacture linseed oil. The
lirst mill proving insufficient, in i-jr be built the one
now in use.
The first mill at Little's (now Tomer's! was built
by Christ] Little, date unknown. The new one, -till
in use, was built by John Little in or about 1815,
after which the old one was for -nine lime u-ed a- a
distillery. The saw-mill, farther down the -tream.
was also iir-t built by Christy Little. It was rebuilt
about 1836 by Christy, Jr., a nephew. The stone
building near by was built about 1818 hy Christy
and Oliver Little, fitt a fulling- and oil-mill.
442
HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
The old mill at Sidney is said to date back to the
last century. In 1860 a new one was built by John
M. Baldwin.
The saw-mill at Oak Grove was built in 1805 by
Samuel Willson; the grist-mill in 1856 by Josiah
Willson.
Hiram Deats began to manufacture plows near
Quakertown in 1831, started a foundry for casting his
plows in 1836, and added the casting of stoves in 1841.
In 1852 the stove business was transferred to Stockton,
N. J. In the same year he built the machine-shop
at Pittstown, on the site of the old fulling-mill, using
the same pond and tail-race, just as they were, perhaps,
a hundred years before. In 1859 the foundry was
built at Pittstown, and the entire business removed
from Quakertown. In 1860, Mr. Deats began to
manufacture reapers and mowers ; in 1866 he formed
a partnership with William J. Case, Rutsan Case, and
his son, L. M. Deats, doing business under the firm-
name of Deats, Case & Co. Later the firm was L. M.
Deats & Co. For fifty years, up to April 1, 1881,
Mr. Deats has been either sole proprietor or senior
partner.
About a hundred years ago Daniel Potts and James
Dilworth owned the land west of Cornelius Best's, and
there operated a forge. Subsequently, Daniel Potts
and his son William followed making scythes, just
below the hill. The forge was about 100 yards south,
on the other side of the Capoolon. As late as 1817 a
large grain-distillery was in operation on the mil]
property at Pittstown. It was carried on by Benjamin
Guild, who lived where William R. Smith now resides.
Charles Hoff had a forge in front of the tavern at
Pittstown before the Revolution, traces of which may
still be seen.
The manufacture of hats was at one time extensively
carried on at Quakertown and vicinity. Early in the
present century Thomas Craven lived on the farm now
occupied by J. L. Nixon. He built the old house by
the road for a hat-shop, and carried on the business
there. Henry Cliffton and William Cliffton also
manufactured hats. John Spiby had a hat-shop on
the lot now owned by Aaron Trimmer. He was fol-
lowed by Lewis Batterson, who relinquished the busi-
ness in 1843, and Spiby in 1848 moved to Ohio.
MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.
The following documents explain themselves :
Manumission 1 " I do hereby manumit & Bet free from Bondage my
Oaiy Alien. ) Negro Child Cuty Allen.
"Witness my hand & seal this 18th day of Nov.,
A.D. 1805.
" Loranna Allen."
" Beceivod, December the Eighteenth, one thousand seven hundred &
Ninety-Seven, of Henry Cliffton, in behalf of Mingo Whano, the sum of
seventy-five pounds, proclamation money of the Slate of Now Jersey, it
being the full consideration for a certain Negro Woman named Christiana
& her Child named Samuel Coates Whano, sold by me this Day to the
said Mingo Whano & to his Heirs and assigns forever, reed, per mo.
" Jacou Race, Junr."
Mingo Whano, thus having purchased his wife and
" her son," manumitted them in due form, as is wit-
nessed by John Rockhill and Robert Emley, and re-
corded by Henry Cliffton.
The following extract from an inventory of the
personal estate of Dr. James Willson, taken March
15, 1777, shows that it was no trifling matter to set up
housekeeping at that time :
£ «. d.
6 Bushels of Wheat in seller 2 6
1% barrels of Pork in seller 10 10
1 Copper Cittlo 6 10
1 frying pan 14
I grid Iron 7 6
II mettle Spoons 6
I Clock 14
5 yds. of 12 Hundred Linnen 2 5
II Coarse Sheats 11
llfineSheats 16 5
1 pare of Smoothing Irons 10
568 lbs. of Bacon at Is. 3rf. por pound 35
" By Ds,
" Robert Lakge,
" Joseph King."
MILITARY.
Unfortunately, there are few records covering the
period of the Revolution. Though never the scene
of hostilities, Franklin, according to reliable tradi-
tional authorities, was visited by detachments from
both the British and the American armies. The
British, it is said, were at one time encamped in the
locust grove northwest of Quakertown. The officers
were quartered in the house of John Allen, now be-
longing to John Laing. It is also a tradition well
established that a part of the American army was
once encamped at Pittstown, where there was a gov-
ernment store-house. This store-house is said to have
been a barn on the farm now owned by Hiram Deats,
who removed the building about twenty years ago.
Tradition says that Washington visited this village
when on his way from Morristown, and stopped for a
short time in the old house that stood partly on the
present site of the dwelling on the same farm.
In the Rebellion, Franklin bore her full share of
the burdens. Co. D, Thirtieth Regiment, and the
Hunterdon companies of the Thirty-first Regiment,
contained many of her patriotic sons, while many
others enlisted and served in the First, Second, Third,
Fifth, Sixth, Tenth, Fifteenth, Thirty-fourth, Thirty-
fifth, Thirty-eighth, and other infantry regiments,
in the Second Cavalry, with a few representatives in
the artillery and naval service.
BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
asa Mcpherson.
Asa McPherson was born in Raritan township,
Hunterdon Co., N. J., Feb. 2, 1798.
He was a son of Samuel and Betty (Polhemus)
McPherson, and his grandfather was born in Scot-
land, and immigrated to this country. Samuel was
twice married, and had in all seven children, of whom
DANIEL LITTLE.
FRANKLIN.
443
Asa was the first-born. Asa McPhereon married
Eliza Porter, of Clinton township, Hunterdon Co.
They had seven children, three of whom died in
Childhood. Those living are Samuel, farmer, residing
in the township Of Alexandria; Alio-, farmer and
drover, of Franklin township; Theodore, farmer, re-
siding in the same township; and Mary, wife of the
late George House!, of Flemington, N. J.
asa Mi PJaBBSON.
A -a McPhersorj was an active, enterprising business
man of hi- township, and, as a drover and agricul-
turist, accumulated a handsome c petence. He was
highly respected as a eiti/eii. was an earnest and san-
guine Republican, but in no Bense an office-seeker.
lie »as a member of the Bethlehem Presbyterian
Church till his removal to Flemington, in L866. Be
spent the last years of his life with his daughter in
Flemington, departing this life Feb. 25, 1880, aged
eighty-two year- ami twenty-three days.
Theodore McPhereon, wb :cupies the old home-
stead, near ( 'herry ville, in Franklin township, was
horn on an adjacent farm, and removed here when
about six years of age. I le wa- brought up a tanner,
and has made that his liu-im— through life. In L866
he married Anna Stout, of Mount Salem, I'nioii
township, and has one son, A-a Mcl'herson.
DANIEL LITTLE.
Daniel Little was bom on the e-tate where he now
resides, March '27, lSlo. Hi- grandfather, Thomas
Little, purchased the homestead of the executor- of
Thomas Rockhill, the deed hearing date Dec. 1. 1749.
After hi- death the executors conveyed the property
to John and Christy Little, sons of Thomas, in a deed
bearing date .Ian. 80, 1804.
Thomas Little married Esther Christy, a native of
Ireland, and had six children, four sons and two
daughters, all deceased. He died before the Revolu-
tion.
His son, ( 'hristy Little, father of the -ubject of this
-k.tch, was born in a log house winch stood upon the
site of the present stone house on the Little estate.
He served live years in the Revolutionary war as
brigade teamster, entering the service at the age of
fifteen and continuing till the close of the war. Re-
turning home at the close of the war, he settled upon
the farm, and married, Dec. 20, 1801, Rachel, daughter
of Jacob and Joanna Cook. She was born Dec. 28,
1777, and died Feb. 10, 1859; he was born Sept. 11,
L761, and died Oct. 17, 1850. Their children were:
1. Charles,' 1 horn Sept. 16, 1802; 2. Joanna,* born
April 29, 1804; 3. Esther* born March 9, 1806; 4.
Adelaide,* born Dec. 27, 1807 ; 5. Daniel, born March
27. lslit; 6. Sedgwick, horn April 5, L812 ; 7. Mahala,
born July 26, 1*14; 8. Thir/.a, horn Dec. 12, L817.
The lour members of the family living reside at
and in the immediate vicinity of Littletown. Mahala
married <i 'gc Lesson, and Thir/.a, William Taylor,
farmers.
Daniel Little was hrotight up on the homestead,
which has lieen in the possession of the family since
1749, and received such education as the schools of
his neighborhood afforded. His occupation has been
(aiming and milling, having been joint proprietor
with his brother Sedgwick in the flooring-mills at
Littletown for seven years, from 1S3G to 1S4:>; at the
latter date he -old his interest to his brother, and has
since given hi- attention to agriculture. He is a
Democrat in politics, and has discharged the duties
of the most important local township offices. He has
been for some three year- past an elder in the King-
wood Presbyterian Church, and for many years a
member of its hoard of trustees.
Mr. Little married Maria BofF, Deed. 1889, who
was born Feb. II. 1821, and died Aug. 2, 1866. They
have two daughter-. — Margaret Ann, residing at home,
and Emma Relis, wife of Norrjs Shape, of Shiloh,
Ohio.
ASA CASE.
Asa Case, son of William and Rachel (Evans)
Case, was horn in Karitan township, Hunterdon Co.,
\. J., April 1 1, 1821. lie i- the youngest of fifteen
children, twelve of whom reached maturity, and his
life has been devoted to agricultural and horticultural
pursuits. The (arm on which he now resides consists
of one hundred and fifteen acres of' well -improved land.
lie purchased the farm eleven years ago, and has since
given his attention chiefly to peach-growing, from
which he has realized verj successful results. He is
444
HUNTERDON COUNTY, NEW JERSEY.
a devoted temperance man, and an exemplary mem-
ber of the Baptist Church at Cherryville. July 24,
1847, Mr. Case married Elizabeth Ann Rodenbock, a
ASA CASE.
native of Hunterdon County. She is a member of
the Baptist Church and teacher in the Sunday-school.
Of the four children, the fruit of their marriage,
three, two daughters and one son, are living, and are
also church members with their parents.
HIRAM DEATS.
The subject of this sketch is of German descent on
his father's side. His grandfather, William Deats
(Deitz), came from Germany and settled in Hunter-
don County, about four miles northwest of Fleming-
ton, where he followed the occupation of a wheel-
wright, being a workman of great skill and ingenuity.
He had a family of several children, of whom John,
the father of our subject, was the only son.
John Deats married Ursilla, daughter of Capt. Eli-
sha Barton, who, with his eldest son, Henry, served
through the Revolutionary war. Capt. Barton lived
on the old homestead in Raritan township both before
and after the war, and died there about 1820. The
property then passed to his son John, and from him
to his son Isaac, and from Isaac to his son John, the
present occupant. Mr. Deats has lived to see five
generations on the old homestead of his maternal
grandfather, and the sixth growing up in its imme-
diate neighborhood. Three generations lie buried in
the old graveyard on the place.
John Deats, like his father, was a wheelwright by
trade, and followed that occupation most of his life.
He began early to experiment in plows, and made the
model of the celebrated Deats plow, which, in the
hands of his son Hiram, has become so widely and
favorably known. He obtained the patent for it, and,
not being able to engage in its manufacture, went
West for the purpose of disposing of rights there, and
never returned.
Hiram Deats was then a young man verging upon
his majority. He was born April 12, 1810, and had
spent a portion of his minority in working at the
shoemaker's trade near Flemington. The thought
occurred to him that he could take his father's model
and do something with it in the way of manufactur-
ing plows for his immediate neighbors. He was a
young man, then scarcely of age and extremely poor,
and he little dreamed of the magnitude to which the
business would ultimately grow. The wish to do
something in this direction was father to the deed,
and in 1831 Mr. Deats began at Quakertown, near
his early home, the manufacture of a plow which has
well stood the test of all competition for fifty years.
Being of an ingenious turn, the patterns for the first
castings were made by him, and he was able to turn
his hand to almost any mechanical job required in the
fitting up and working of his foundry and shop, — a
gift or faculty which was really the key to his future
success; for, had he been obliged to hire all these
things done, he never could have succeeded, and his
enterprise must have died in its infancy. For many
years he was successful in everything he touched,
and, indeed,' his whole life since has furnished but
few exceptions to this general rule of prosperity.
In 1831, as we have said, he began manufacturing
the Deats plow near Quakertown. In 1836 he started
a small foundry for the casting of his plows. To this
he added the casting of stoves, which grew to be a
considerable business and continued till 1852, when
he divided the business, transferring the stove-casting
to Stockton, N. J., and built a machine-shop at Pitts-
town, on the site of the old fulling-mill which was
originally used as a grist-mill in the time of the Rev-
olutionary war and afterwards, using the same pond
and tail-race which were then used. (This was the
only grist-mill throughout a large extent of country
at that early day.) At this shop he commenced the
manufacture of horse-powers, threshing-machines,
corn-shellers, etc., leaving the foundry and plow
business at Quakertown.
Seven years after, in 1859, he moved to Pittstown,
and built an addition to the machine-shop and a new
foundry the same year, bringing all the business from
Quakertown, and in the year following added to the
business the manufacture of reapers and mowers.
Seven years later, in October, 1866, he formed a co-
partnership with William J. Case, Rhutson Case and
his son, L. M. Deats, doing business under the firm-
name of Deats, Case & Co. Seven years later Rhut-
son Case bought the interest of William J. Case, and
LEBANON.
445
the business was conducted under the name of L. M.
Beats & Co, making in all fifty years up to April,
1881.
\ severe blow fell upon Mr. Deats and his house-
hold in the death of his sun, Lemuel Madison Deats,
whose name stands at the liead of the firm. He de-
parted this life July 2li, 187'J, in the prime of his
manhood and usefulness.
In IS'iO, Mr. Deals bought the very desirable prop-
erty at Pittstown where be now lives. Upon this
property stood an old house and barn which were
there during the Revolutionary war. the barn being
then used as a government store-house, and the
house, it i- said, was that at which Gen. Washington